


the sound of silence

by lilacsandstars



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BOM Keith, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Mentioned Harry Potter, Mentioned Leakira, YEAH OK ENJOY, bless them, conducting a play with the space mice, exiria is here for kick, he’s in his own world, i need to rewatch voltron, idk where coran is i’m sorry, krolia is content, mentioned Hogwarts, physical kicks and the ship, season 6 ig, shiro and allura know whats UP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29845281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacsandstars/pseuds/lilacsandstars
Summary: Silence can be either a very good thing or a bad thing.In Lance McClain’s case, though, it’s a very good thing.—————or the fic in which lance is jealous bc keith comes back from the blade with not only his mom but a girl, and they’re very close. lance becomes worried since he has Suppressed Feelings.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Kudos: 46





	the sound of silence

**Author's Note:**

> hiya heres this bc i love it

Her name was Silence. Everyone mostly called her Si, but sometimes they would literally refer to her as “Silence.” It was so fucking weird to Lance and he couldn’t understand why if they got cool names that she got _Silence_. And he also didn’t understand what Keith found so great in her. Like, come on, Keith, she doesn’t even _tease you!_

Keith’s absence from Voltron to assist the Blade was so very heart wrenching for Lance since they had just gotten close, and he was constantly reminded that Keith wasn’t there when he turned to make a joke. Keith wouldn’t be there to hear it. Or when he automatically went for Keith’s room when he was upset, only to remember that _Keith wasn’t there anymore._

So when Lance saw the video call that Keith was coming back, all he could think was _KeithKeithKeithKeithKeith!_ And he immediately stopped trying to start something nonexistent with Allura. He just...wanted to convince himself that he wasn’t hung up on Keith, but he knew it wasn’t true. He just didn’t want to admit it knowing Keith may not ever come back. 

But he was!

So when Lance met Keith at the platform, he expected a hug or at least a “Hey, Lance! Man, I missed you, too! We really need to catch up later, but we have business to attend to now. It’s good to see you.” But _no_. All Lance got was _brushed off_ and “I don’t have time for this, Lance.” 

_Fuck you too, Kogane._

And the worst of it all? Keith came back with someone. A girl. And she was pretty. So pretty. 

Honestly, Lance would definitely pick her out of a crowd. She was that pretty. And seeing her and Keith all huddled together sometimes talking, whether it be about battle strategies or just idle conversation, it was burning. Him. Inside. Out. 

So, yeah. The girl was named Silence. Si. Because apparently her stealth level was astronomical, which Lance learned to be true when she would sneak up on him and try to hold a conversation with him. 

_Lance was walking down the hallway to find his favorite nook by a window and watch the stars when a rapid flash of black appeared at the corner of his eye, and before he could do anything about it, Silence was right in front of him._

_“Blue Paladin,” she greeted him, and_ Altean Buttersock _, she had a nice voice. No wonder Keith was all interested in her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Silence, and—”_

_“I’m pretty sure we all know who you are,” Lance grumbled. He didn’t mean to, okay? He was upset and he was allowed to be. “Please, call me Lance. Now if you’ll excuse me—”_

_And she cut him off in return._

_“You are not entirely like Red explained,” she mused, noting mostly to herself. Lance gave her an odd look, then narrowed his eyes._

_“What d’you think you’re doing talking to Red?” Lance asked sharply. “That’s Keith’s lion.” She raised a brow, looking incredibly confused._

_“Red is no lion,” she mentioned, but gave up, sighing, and silently padding away._ Even her damn iron-plated shoes didn’t make a sound against the flooring! _Yep, yep, Lance hated her. Official._

Lance didn’t _mean_ to hate her. He really didn’t. She was so oblivious it was sweet, and Lance couldn’t argue with that, but he could argue with the fact that Keith had literally cold-shouldered him ever since he returned. Keith was taller, grizzled, and Lance was interested in exactly how much of Keith changed. 

Like, his mannerisms. Was he...different?

Oh, and Keith’s mom. Lance _adored_ Krolia, and he especially appreciated the smiles and looks of recognition that she gave him. He didn’t know why she did, but he loved it! And apparently, Silence loved Krolia, too. Keith, Krolia, and Silence would often be found together. And as much as Lance didn’t want to admit it, it made him jealous. 

_“Lance, you can’t be jealous,” Hunk muttered as they sat eating some new cookies Hunk had managed. “They apparently spent two years out there together because of that space whale! Plus, maybe it’s not what you think.” Lance gazed up at Hunk, his expression resigned as he shook his head._

_“He came back with his mom, a pretty girl who is_ insanely _useful to her team, and a space puppy, Hunk,” Lance listed moodily. “With all those details, the two could be hitched.” Hunk sighed and placed his cookie down, giving Lance a sympathetic look._

_“You seriously are the most thick-headed person I’ve ever met,” Hunk mumbled._

_“Well, it’s something that is logical-”_

_“That’s not! What I’m talking about, Lance.”_

_“Then what?” But Hunk didn’t answer. He sighed again, put the cookies away, patted Lance’s shoulder supportively and looked down at his place where he sat in the chair._

_“You should try talking to her,” Hunk tried, but Lance only scoffed and shrugged Hunk’s hand off of him. Hunk looked away, retracted his hand from where it hung midair, and exited the kitchen._

_It was two whole hours before Lance left._

And okay, maybe it made a little sense. Maybe Keith was justified. But he forgot about Lance! His right hand! His rival-turned-friend! His friend! The cool to his jets! Lance knew they had something, and _whatever the hell it was_ he wanted it back. 

Which brought him to Silence’s room that they had set up for her upon the arrival. Lance sighed and knocked twice, trepidation practically burning through his organs. The door opened, and Silence gave a look of surprise at seeing him. 

“Lance,” she greeted. “A pleasure. Please, come in.” Lance nodded his thanks and slowly entered, sitting down in a chair that was at a desk. Silence sat on the end of her bed, her legs crossed in criss-cross-applesauce as she sat up attentively. 

“Hi, Silence,” he greeted. The girl grinned and bowed her head forward in recognition. 

“Hello, Lance,” she returned playfully. It reminded him of Keith so much. It almost hurt. 

“My friend suggested I talk with you—”

“Because you have an undeniable hatred for me and an attraction for Red?” Lance gaped and she smirked. 

“I don’t _hate_ you!” Lance shouted, feeling embarrassed. “I just—! Want to strangle you just a teeny bit!” Silence laughed loudly. Oh, Keith probably liked that laugh a lot, didn’t he?

“Red is your Keith,” she mentioned quietly. “Blades are given names to use to protect our real ones. Your Keith goes by ‘Red.’ As you know, I generally go by ‘Silence,’ or ‘Si.’ My real name is Exiria.” She extended her hand for Lance to shake. “Hello, Lance, my name is Exiria. I’m Keith’s guardian.” Lance accepted the hand, shaking it firmly and respectfully. 

“Like his mom?”

“No, Krolia is his mother,” she laughed. “I just...watch over him in battle.” Lance’s brows shot up as he mulled over those words. 

“I had no idea Blades protected other Blades,” he hummed. Exiria nodded, her shiny ink-blot strands of wavy hair fanning around. 

“Only under a few circumstances, but we mainly only use two,” she mentioned. 

“What are the two?”

“Well,” she seemed nervous now, “it is either because of their rank in the Blades and their preference, which rank determines the ability either way. Or it is—he surely will murder me for this—if they have a destined one awaiting them somewhere. Keith’s protection was mainly for the latter purpose.” Lance felt his heart shatter in that moment. 

“So,” Lance breathed, “Keith has, basically, a soulmate waiting for him somewhere, and your job is to keep him alive for said soulmate?” She nodded slowly, controlled, almost as if it were trained. 

“Indeed,” she affirmed. “The other half of him that shares his soul was aboard his old home. I protected Keith for him.” Lance felt a cold rush over his body. Watch it be Shiro. It was Shiro, wasn’t it?

“What a lucky guy,” Lance mumbled sarcastically. Exiria smiled genuinely and tilted her head innocently, looking like Keith when Lance would talk about his family. 

“Yes,” Exiria beamed. “You certainly are, Lance.” The universe fucking stopped. Record scratch. Tsunami. Natural Disasters. World reckoning. _Lance couldn’t breathe—_

“Wh-What?” Lance was awestruck. Exiria only huffed a laugh and shoved Lance out of her room and into the hallway, poking her head out of the doorway as she called out to him one last time. 

“I suggest you talk to Red,” she spoke softly. “He misses you, as much as he does not wish to admit it. Once he found out you were his destined, he was worried everything would be different. And he wanted normal with you. He just does not have a clue on how to create normal when he is around you. At least, that is what he told me.” Lance felt his heart quite literally explode and put itself back together again over and over on repeat. 

“Yeah,” he responded, breathless. “Yeah, I think I will. Thank you, Exiria.” She smiled and waved sweetly at him. “And I’m sorry. For thinking so lowly of you. And accusing you. It was wrong of me.” She walked out of her room to stand before Lance, and _holy fudge crackers she was as tall as him._ Exiria placed her hands on his shoulders, tilting her head in that same innocent way Keith did. 

“It is forgiven,” she spoke reassuringly. “I too would be uneasy if someone was as close to my destined as I am to yours. I should have remembered. Red is just...like a brother I never had.” Lance smiled and nodded, and the girl beamed with her pearly fanged teeth, her stormy grey eyes glinting. 

“Go to him,” she practically beamed. She was excited for him. “He needs you right now.” Lance felt his heart swell and he sent her a large shimmery smile, and no, he did not squeal. Shut up, Exiria. “He’s with Allura in the control room.” Lance nodded thankfully and turned, bolting off toward where Keith was. 

He skidded around corners, not caring much for if he toppled over or slammed into someone. He may or may not have been yelling _“Ke-e-e-e-eith!”_ at the top of his lungs on the way, but that’s not your business. He waved frantically at Pidge who was in her room, door open, tinkering on her laptop. 

“Hi Pidgeon!” he yelped as he ran by the door. “Going to find Keith, ‘kay bye!” He found yet another burst of speed and almost tripped over his own feet, rounding the corner to the control room. 

He ran through the automatic doors, heaving from lack of breath, and caught the eyes of Allura, Shiro, Coran, Krolia and _Keith._ He smiled and huffed a small laugh, his eyes softening so much that Shiro and Allura’s eyes bulged. Oh, those fuckers _knew._

_“Keith,”_ Lance breathed, and his shoulders sagged as his hands dropped down to his sides. Keith was still in his Blade suit, taller than Lance now, his hair longer, and his body more toned. Good god, Lance missed him so much. Keith’s eyes were wide with both wonder and concern. 

“Lance?” he asked, sounding ready to drop down to help if the other boy were to fall. Lance only laughed and shoved his hands into his pockets, slowly walking forward with his gaze trained to the floor. 

“I think we really need to talk,” Lance mumbled. Keith blinked rapidly, his eyelids fluttering with the action. Keith nodded toward the screen, seeming timid now. 

“Actually, we, uh,” Keith sounded quiet and scared, “we’re in the middle of something important here, Lance.” Allura groaned, shaking her head almost irritably. 

“Keith, you’re _avoiding_ it again,” Krolia gave him a harsh motherly look, to which Keith turned away to lean his weight on the control panel with his arms. “We’re leaving.” Krolia took them all out of the room, Shiro and Allura smirking back at Lance and Keith, looking particularly smug. 

Once they were gone, Lance stopped directly behind where Keith was still leaning on the control panel. He took a step forward to stand beside Keith, looking at the diagram displayed on the large screen. 

“So,” Lance began, rocking back and forth on his feet. “I really missed you.” Keith’s eyes darted over to Lance, then back down, and he swallowed as his shoulders hunched over his ears even further. “And Exiria’s your guardian?” Keith perked up at that, his head whipping toward the boy to give him an accusatory look. 

“Who told you that?” he demanded. Lance looked away to avoid that fierce stare, his hands shoving even deeper into his pockets. 

“She did,” he mumbled. Keith sighed and covered his face with his hands, standing and choosing to lean back against the panel and cross his arms. 

“Look, you don’t have to say anything at all,” Keith grumbled, his cheeks very obviously tinted pink. Lance _loved_ that. He smiled and nodded, Keith turning to meet his line of sight. 

“There are a lot of things I’d like to say,” Lance sighed. “Like how firstly, you didn’t even tell me that you missed me, too. How rude! You also completely dodged my hug at the platform! That hurt.” Keith tucked into himself further, his eyes downcast once again. 

“Because I had reasons,” he spoke low, his cheeks flushing further. Lance grinned and shuffled closer to Keith, who gave him a wary look. 

“What reasons, Keith?” Lance asked, raising a brow. Keith seemed to growl under his breath, huffing and blowing his cheeks out. _Cute._

“Because,” he seethed, suddenly irritated, “I was _controlling_ myself. I didn’t want to jump you and freak you out.” Lance felt his face drop in shock, his fists clenching anxiously. 

“You like me that much, huh?” he was breathless and in so much shock he was afraid he’d collapse on the floor. Keith shook his head and turned to face Lance, suddenly confident, but it appeared more resigned. 

_“I fell in love with you,”_ Keith breathed, his face deeply torn and his eyes glistening so much that Lance thought he would certainly drown in them. “I fell in love with you in the abyss, Lance.” And his breath was gone. Lance couldn’t breathe. It was true. 

“Please don’t be kidding me right now,” he chuckled, out of breath. “I’ve spent too long loving and mulling over you for you to be joking. This better not be one huge prank.” Keith looked hurt and scared then, straightening as he shook his head like mad. 

“I’m not joking—!” he sounded frantic, and Lance’s shocked face made him calm down. “I’m—I’m not...joking.” Lance let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and swallowed so hard that it honestly kind of hurt. 

“Well, then am I getting that hug now, or…?” he trailed off, twiddling his fingers. Keith gave him a hard look, breathing in heavily through his nose and then back out. Lance watched warily as Keith clenched and unclenched his jaw. 

“I’m warning you,” Keith scolded, “if you literally invite me to, then I’m not responsible for my actions following it.” Lance nodded and shrugged. 

“Honestly, any touch from you right now would make me forget everything I’ve ever known,” he admitted with a small chuckle. Keith covered the lower half of his mouth and shook his head. 

“Don’t say that,” he mumbled. 

“Why not?”

“That makes it even harder, you asshole.” 

“Then stop making it hard and get your _ass in this hug, you mother fu—”_

And then Keith was on him. Well, technically, his mouth was on Lance’s. So not a hug. But totally not against Lance’s wishes. Keith’s right hand was heavy on his lower back, and his left was firmly holding the back of his neck, his thumb stroking where his spine met his skull. It was lighting Lance’s nerves on fire in a way that seemed illegal. 

Keith was moving desperately against him, and Lance was growing so weak at the raw emotion in it. Keith’s breath was shaky; his hands were holding Lance so tightly it was driving him mad, and the close contact was enough to make him keep getting weaker and weaker under his partner’s touch. 

It kept a steady pace, hot and heavy, until Lance let out a whine he was trying _so hard to hold in, dammit._ And when Keith heard it, he pulled back instantly, making Lance whine again at the loss of contact. Way to dig your grave deeper, _Mr. Sharpshooter Ninja Sir McClain._

Keith’s eyes darted all over Lance’s face, his eyes blown out with lust, and it made them both weak with how they looked at one another. 

“God, I missed you,” Keith whispered, his voice catching slightly. Lance put his forehead against the paler boy’s and sighed contentedly, folding himself into Keith’s arms. 

“You know, it’s not fair that you’re taller than me and look like a whole ass sculpture,” he mumbled. Keith laughed and squeezed Lance tightly, nuzzling his nose into that pretty dusty brown hair. 

“It’s no fair that you _grew your hair out_ and _filled out,”_ the other remarked, poking Lance’s side teasingly. He laughed in response and pinched Keith’s shoulder blade, making him yelp. 

“I could say the exact same thing to you,” he returned, laughing again. Keith hummed and held Lance for a moment, just reveling in the peace. It was perfect. 

* * *

Lance, Keith, and Krolia were all sitting with Exiria in a living room area, chatting away about random things, when Exiria brought up alternate realities. She went into detail about visiting said realities, and it had them hooked. 

“Where all have you been?” Lance asked quietly, as if afraid that would overstep a boundary. She crossed her arms with a smirk and shrugged. 

“Multiple places,” she said nonchalantly. “I went to a giant castle-like school where students studied magic and battled an evil wizard! And I also visited some odd reality where Lance is Leandro and Red is Akira! That one was very fun.” Lance’s eyes bulged as he listened. 

“That’s so cool!” he commented. “It sounds like you visited the Harry Potter universe.” Exiria’s eyes lit up in recognition and she nodded rapidly as she pointed at him, her dark hair bouncing about. 

“Yes! Yes, that name is very famous there!” she responded eagerly. “Hogwarts was the school! I miss those Weasleys so dearly. I really should venture back sometime.” Lance nodded like a madman and clapped his hands. 

“Could you take me?” he asked. Exiria nodded, to which Lance squealed and he may or may not have sprawled over in Keith’s lap and shook his shoulders, _shut up._

“Also, in all of the realities that included you two,” she looked back and forth between Keith and Lance, “you two were romantically involved in all of them. And in about 98 percent of them, you were actively together.” Lance felt his smile widen as he relaxed in Keith’s hold. However, Keith was a curious mother fucker with anxiety. 

“What about the other two percent?” Keith asked, his brows drawn together. Exiria sighed and shrugged, her eyes glinting. 

“You two were arguing,” she spoke bluntly. “You were broken up. It looked like it was getting better in some, and in others, you two were just very stubborn. You loved one another intensely, it was just beyond that reality’s versions of yourselves.” Keith nodded and unconsciously squeezed Lance tighter. 

“And,” he paused, “and how does this reality look?” Exiria sent Keith a warm open smile and laughed to herself. 

“Red, this reality is one where your bond is strongest,” she spoke softly. “A core reality. This is the destined one. The ideal one. Which is why you are called one another’s destined here.” Keith’s tight grip loosened and he let go of a breath he had been holding, and Lance patted his cheek lovingly. 

“Yeah, _Red,”_ Lance crooned. Keith pinched his hip, and Lance yelped as he smacked his shoulder in retaliation. “Watch the merchandise, buddy!” Keith rolled his eyes and stroked the spot he had pinched his boyfriend. 

“You have _got_ to stop calling me ‘buddy’ if you’re going to be my boyfriend, Lance,” he mumbled. Lance tutted and booped Keith’s nose, smiling proudly. 

“We’ll see about that,” he responded quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear. 

Yeah, Lance is glad that the silence between him and Keith wasn’t a problem anymore. 

_Ha, get it? Silence? Okay, that one wasn’t good, no more jokes, Lance._

**Author's Note:**

> i’m working on a kl beauty and the beast au!!! i’ve been wanting to write one for forever so here we go!!


End file.
